The Beast That was Promised ✔

TWENTY: True Powers

When Emrick awoke, the sun was rising. The clouds were different shades of pale pinks and oranges and for a moment, he smiled at it. Then he froze, eyes wide and breathing laboured because the sky was clear, there wasn't a forest anymore and he was moving, bumping up and down with every breath.

Underneath him was a board, the hard surface digging into his back. His armour was gone, as were his weapons, as was the stone. But the stone had shattered, he remembered that much, but he couldn't remember anything else. His head ached, his muscles burned, but he couldn't just lie there to be carried by people he could barely see. He had to do something, had to move.

Ignoring the pain that flared up and his blurry vision, Emrick rolled. For whatever reason, he wasn't restrained and he dropped to the ground with a thud, his head swimming. The board clattered to the ground next to him and he climbed to his feet. He needed to find his sword if he was going to live.

But everything was swimming and his limbs felt like water. Standing hurt and made him dizzy and he knew he wasn't going to last long. "Please," he gasped but it felt like he was trying to breathe underwater. Everything blurred, the sky, the snow around him, the shining grey of armour he couldn't recognise until he fell backwards.

He didn't land in the snow but in someone's arms. They lowered him slowly to the ground, where he groaned and struggled weakly against them. "Emrick," they said but he had no idea how they knew his name. "Emrick, you need to stay calm. You're with friends, you don't need to worry."

Who were they, the people around him? The voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it. Part of him wanted to believe it was Isiah, that he had somehow made it back to him, but the words weren't something Isiah would say. The fact that he recognised the voice in any way was enough for him to stop struggling and allow those around him to put him back on the board again.

"Who?" he said, his voice weak and feeble. Something had happened, but he didn't understand what or where he was.

The faint sound of metal reached his ears and between one blink and the next, a familiar blurry face filled his vision. "It's me, Benj," the face said, muffled but clear enough for him to understand.

Emrick blinked again, slow, the slight movement only making his head hurt more. "How?"

"We found you during the night, unconscious and surrounded by dead bodies," the Prince explained and Emrick was finally able to take in who else he was with. Benj's companion, the archer, as well as Orvo, who had been the one to catch him when he fell. "We still don't know what happened, but Orvo ran back to get a board from the hut to carry you. You've been sleeping for hours."

None of it made sense. They shouldn't have rescued him, they needed to keep moving, but they had anyway. He owed them his life. "Thank you," he whispered as the archer and the other man lifted his board again.

"Try not to speak too much, you should rest," Benj ordered as they started walking again.

But now that he was awake, he wasn't getting back to sleep. "No," he grumbled and tilted his head to look at the Prince. There was a bag on his back and it clanked as he walked. That was where Emrick's armour had gone. "Where are we going?"

"You said you needed to go to Liman, didn't you?" Benj asked. "So we're going to take you there."

"But Ziya..."

"I think getting you to Rina and the Beast is more important, don't you?" Benj replied, raising an eyebrow at him. Ever so slowly, his vision was clearing, but his head still pounded, a muffled voice whispering to him. He couldn't understand a word it said and it was easier not to focus on it, doing so only made him hurt more.